Trainer for Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes explains why he has incredible ‘game speed’

After eluding three Broncos pass rushers and tossing a pass for a two-point conversion against the Denver Broncos in 2019, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes cracked a joke on the sideline.

“Did I look like Lamar with that juke? That’s as close as I can get right there,” Mahomes said, referring to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

While Jackson is considered one of the NFL’s best running quarterbacks, Mahomes has consistently shown an ability to elude defenders, and he picked up a career-best 25 first downs by rush this season.

In Sunday’s 42-36 overtime win over the Bills on Sunday, Mahomes led the Chiefs with 69 yards rushing and a 9.9 yards-per-carry average. He also scored a touchdown.

It wasn’t the first time Mahomes has flashed his speed in a game. And while he won’t be confused for Tyreek Hill, the fastest man in the NFL, Mahomes does show good speed.

If you’ve ever wondered why he’s so tough for defensive players to tackle, Mahomes’ personal trainer, Bobby Stroupe, provided some insight Wednesday on Twitter.

Stroupe said Mahomes can accelerate incredibly fast to a maximum speed in any direction he is running.

This is an interesting look at Mahomes’ training habits and how he’s been timed by Stroupe.

“What is ‘game speed’ vs 40 time? What’s the difference in max velocity and ‘game speed,’” Stroupe wrote. “Is @patrickmahomes fast? ... Short answer is yes. He has incredible ‘game speed’. Long answer is more complicated.

“2) What is ‘game speed’? Advanced statistics show that he had the highest yards per carry in the NFL for any position this year at 7.8 yards (deduct kneels). Patrick tops out at 20 mph & can touch 21 on his best day, without pads. Don’t fool yourself w/40 times from 6 yrs ago.

“3) World class athletes can run backward @ 75% of max speed they can sprint fwd. Patrick can run backward @ 89% of max velo fwd.World class athletes can run curvilinear or circle patterns at 80% of max sprint speed. PM can run curvilinear patterns at 103% of max velocity straight

“4) Further, he is the fastest athlete we (@teamapec/@apecdfw) have worked with in several locomotive & movement literacy patterns. To elaborate, he can accelerate to a max speed from any locomotive movement pattern as fast or faster than any player that ever played the game.

”5) This is how a ‘slow’ ‘not agile’ athlete can beat a 4.3 DB or 4.4 LB in the open field. We sprint 2x a week, inseason. And he knows where his body is at going into every game. Game Speed is an expression, not a time. And 15 can roll.

“6) Lastly, there are vision and perception factors beyond his physical attributes that are equal or more important than the above mentioned. These require more explanation than what can be articulated on Twitter.

“7) This is also an example of why the nfl combine is a poor evaluator of physical ability on the football field. If teams evaluated the above abilities, they could create movement standards for schemes and positions to target. I believe some teams understand this, others ..”

At the NFL Combine, Mahomes ran a 4.8-second 40-yard dash but when he breaks the pocket these days, he has certainly been a handful for defensive players.

Now we have an idea why.